Welcome to Gaia! ::

I totally thought of you when I found out I had a stalker cat at my door. I was thinking, "who wouldn't want this sweet heart kitty, cuz I know someone who does" heart

I have those, doritos and lays lightly salted.

I'm addicted to those less salt Fritos

I must have them with my chili too

Chili = Hamburger meat

Restaurant = $$$$

crying

There is something I haven't utilized, artichoke. I love artichoke but have never attempted to cook with it. I'll need to try my hand at it sometime. I love spinach and artichoke dip

Are you a vegetarian heart

I never use anything but a rice cooker emotion_awesome One of the first things I bought for my kitchen was a $25 3-in-1 rice cooker/steamer/slow cooker.

You should try cooking rice and beans from scratch sometime. With a rice cooker, and canned beans, except for the actual cooking time which is mostly hands-off, it takes about as long to prepare as a box of Zattarans but tastes 100% better.

Here's how I do it: First the rice, I measure out what I want to cook (sometimes I add extra to I can make fried rice with the left-overs the next day), then I put it in the cooker and drizzle it with olive oil, stir until fully coated, add the water, and let it cook. When cooker dings it's done, I turn it off, stir, fan and fluff the rice, then close the lid and let it rest.

While the rice is cooking, I throw some chopped up onions and ham or bacon into a pot and brown it, then I dump in a can of pink beans, water measured with the bean can (to help get out the extra beany sludgy goodness usually stuck inside), a packet of sazon with achiote, a heaping table spoon of sofrito, a teeny sprinkle of cumin, and if I'm feeling fancy some summer squash or pumpkin. (Pumpkin is the tradition but I prefer to use acorn squash.) This dish is actually supposed to be made with tomato stuff in there but I can't eat tomatoes so it's modified.

The end result: (not my picture)


If I'm making it for visiting family, I'll serve to with PR style roasted pork (made in my rice/slow cooker the day before and then transferred to an oven pan so I can cook the rice), fried plantains, fresh avocado slices, and an ice cold malta.

EDIT: Don't type recipes while dopped up on nightquil.

I just buy quartered artichoke hearts. It's so hard to get the hearts out of a regular artichoke. I am not skilled enough. gonk

For health purposes. 3nodding I'm actually fairly thin and healthy, but I have a newfound appreciation for vegetables and cooking thanks to my choice. Gimme some beans, legumes, or what have you, and some vegetables...and I'll whip something up for ya.